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Barcelona Terror attack: Aussies injured

Barcelona Terror attack: Aussies injured

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed three Australians have been hurt when a van mowed people down in a popular tourist spot, killing more than a dozen people and injuring around one hundred more.

“We recognise the historical significance of the agreement. However, we are disappointed with the overall outcomes for agriculture with a number of sectors facing marginal improvements or limited commercial gains,” federation president Brent Finlay said.

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“The ultimate objective with any trade agreement is to obtain tangible benefits to farmers. Agreements must be comprehensive. That means, no sector carve-outs and elimination of tariffs. The Japanese agreement falls short of the mark on a number of fronts in this regard.

“The agreement does not improve - or marginally improves -market access and terms of trade for a number of sectors such as dairy, sugar, grains, pork and rice.”

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Mr Finlay said the agreement appears to be a positive for the Australian beef, seafood and horticulture sectors thanks to a reduction in tarrifs. Wine makers have also welcomed the deal.

Pork farmers are not happy with the freed trade agreement struck between Australia and Japan. Photo: Katherine Griffiths

‘‘It’s good for consumers, it’s good for jobs and good for prosperity,” Mr Abbott told ABC radio on Tuesday morning.

“This deal could be equally significant in the years and decades ahead because it creates a special relationship between Australia and Japan.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Warren Truss said: "This agreement doesn't achieve everything that the farm sector would wish but there are very substantial gains across most of sectors of agriculture.

"When you're doing trade deals, there always has to be some element of give and take. We can't get everything that we would like."

Mr Truss he hoped the tarrifs on Australian exports such as dairy and sugar would be reduced when the agreement is reviewed in five years.

Japanese whitegoods, electronics and cars will become cheaper in Australia. Tariffs on canned products such as tomatoes, peaches and pears, as well as fruit and vegetable juices, will be eliminated.

Trade experts have praised the agreement, with Alan Oxley, Chairman of Monash University's Australian APEC Study Centre, hailing it as a potential "game changer".

But deputy chair of the Australian Dairy Industry Council Robert Poole said dairy farmers were “extremely disappointed with the deal”.

“We were hopeful government had heeded the industry’s message in regards to freeing up market access in Japan, however it now appears our words fell upon deaf ears.

“There has been no movement in this agreement on fresh cheese – the number one objective for Australian dairy, with tariffs to remain at 29.8 per cent. A successful outcome on this tariff line would have delivered approximately $60 million in tariff savings - instead we have received nothing and the tariff stays in place.”

Sam Lawrence, a senior policy adviser at Australian Pork Limited, said the agreement was "substandard" and represented a "missed opportunity" for the pork sector.

"Exports will remain largely as cost-prohibitive as they are today because of high levies and surcharges," Mr Lawrence said.

The peak industry group for sugarcane growers described the deal as a "kick in the guts" and said it would have no commercial gain for the industry.

“Once again sugar is the perennial outcast in trade negotiations and sugarcane farmers justifiably feel like they’ve been hung out to dry," Canegrowers chief executive Brendan Stewart said.

“While the new agreement has reduced the tariff reduction on international standard sugar from a 184 per cent to a 110 per cent effective tariff, which is a welcome move, this will not improve Australia’s access to Japan."

The chairman of the Australian beef industry's free trade taskforce, Lachie Hart, said the deal would be worth $5.5 billion to the Australian industry over 20 years.

"This will create opportunities for increased Australian beef sales into Japan and improve the affordability of beef to Japanese consumers," he said.

"Significantly, tariffs on Australian frozen beef will drop by 8 per cent in the first year, and for chilled will drop by 6 per cent. This represents a major change in the trading environment to Japan in the first year of the Australia-Japan FTA."

President of the Cattle Council of Australia, Andrew Ogilvie, was less enthusiastic, saying he was disappointed tariffs will remain on Australian beef.

Labor agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon said Labor welcomed the deal, but was concerned by the ‘‘very modest’’ and ‘‘very slow’’ reduction in tarrifs.

‘‘I am concerned that agriculture has been abandoned so that Tony Abbott can sort of steal that trophy and make his announcement while he’s travelling,’’ he told ABC radio.